


Once, Before a Time

by kerithwyn



Category: Fringe, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Multi, OTP+1, Threesome - F/F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-04 15:29:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1082674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerithwyn/pseuds/kerithwyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma never let many people get under her skin, or into her heart. It figured that two who had would end up with each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once, Before a Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kazzy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kazzy/gifts).



> Written for Holly_Poly 2013 for kazzy. Set just previous to s1 of _Once Upon a Time_ and during an s4 AU of _Fringe_ with no timeline reset. And since both universes are off-center from our own anyway, let's go with "open relationships are more common here."

Emma eyed the perfectly ordinary door of 1124 Strathmore. The apartment was in a nice area of Brighton, quiet and populated by working urban professionals, most of whom commuted into metropolitan Boston for their jobs. The resident here was no exception.

She hated asking for favors, especially when she didn't immediately have anything to trade. It didn't matter that the person in this apartment wouldn't ask anything of her in return. In some ways, that made it worse.

At least she wasn't showing up completely empty-handed.

Waiting wouldn't make her anxiety any less. She knew her quarry was home; she'd been watching. Emma had hoped to catch her alone, but her target had company, like she'd had every night this week. Tonight, especially, that wasn't a surprise.

She knocked and after a moment Olivia Dunham opened the door. Emma thought she looked apprehensive for a second before she smiled.

"Emma!" Olivia hesitated minutely—neither of them were touchy-feely types—before reaching out to pull Emma into a brief embrace.

Emma hugged back, grateful for the welcome. "Hey, Olivia."

Olivia let go, waving her inside. "This is a surprise. You forget how to call?"

"Occupational hazard." It was true. The people she dealt with most often didn't deserve the luxury of a forewarning of her appearance.

Olivia nodded knowingly. "So how is the bail bond business?"

"It's," Emma started, and then someone else said,

"'livia, who was at the— Emma?"

She looked over Olivia's shoulder to see a tall man, rubbing at his damp hair with a towel. The look of surprise on his face would have mirrored hers...if she hadn't known about him before she knocked. "Peter Bishop. Fancy meeting you here."

Olivia glanced between the two of them. "You two know each other?"

Peter cleared his throat. "We met in Portland. Years ago."

Peter was trying to be tactful. Emma didn't have the patience for it. "I was sixteen and living on the streets and stealing, badly. Peter caught me trying to break into his apartment and showed me how to do it better."

Olivia looked like she was desperately trying not to laugh. "Maybe I shouldn't hear about this."

Peter shrugged. "We're past the statute of limitations on petty teenage larceny."

" _You_ weren't a teenager," Emma said, pointedly.

"This reunion deserves a drink," Olivia declared, and added, "and it's my birthday, so I'm calling for the good whiskey."

That reminded Emma of the package in her hands. She held it out to Olivia. "This is for you. Um...happy birthday."

Olivia took it, smiling as she opened the box to reveal a single cupcake. Peter didn't look like he got the reference, so Olivia said, "We used to do this at foster home, instead of a regular cake. It was the only way to make sure everyone got what they wanted."

Peter nodded as if he'd just clued in on the context. "So you and Emma—"

"Ended up at the same group home, after my mother died." Olivia looked pensive for a moment, remembering. "I was already looking after Rachel. One more little blonde girl wasn't any trouble."

"Lie detector, remember? I was _lots_ of trouble." Emma folded her arms and pouted for all she was worth.

Peter snorted a laugh and Olivia nodded her agreement, then held up the box. "I'm going to go divide this. Talk among yourselves."

Once she'd disappeared into the kitchen, Emma side-eyed Peter with some curiosity. "FBI consultant, huh. Pretty sweet gig you've conned yourself into."

Peter smiled, the expression more than a little wry. "The con was on me, especially at first. But it's good. And 'livia is..." he trailed off, looking more than a little thunderstruck. Emma understood that expression entirely.

"Yeah, she is," Emma agreed. "But, uh. Olivia looked anxious when she answered the door?"

Peter sighed. "Well, it's her birthday, so you know—she got a card from her bastard stepfather today. She's sure he's going to appear in person someday."

Emma swore under her breath. "He's still doing that? You know, I could track him down, arrest him for harassment—"

"If she'd wanted that, she would have done it years ago," Peter said, and of course that was true. FBI, duh. "And she made me promise not to find him, too," he added, looking annoyed.

"I haven't promised anything," Emma said, and smiled innocently as Olivia came back into the room.

Olivia had cut the cupcake into thirds and she passed the pieces around on small plates. No forks, rightly, because eating a cupcake with a fork would be counter to its nature.

"Vanilla spice?" Olivia asked, and Emma nodded. The cupcake was deceptively straightforward, like its recipient. Olivia smiled. "My favorite flavor. You remembered."

"Of course I did," Emma said, and watched, fascinated, as Olivia delicately licked the frosting off her cupcake.

Peter took a bite, did a double-take, and started to laugh. "No wonder you like these. They taste like coffee."

Emma fumbled her third of the cupcake to her mouth, trying to cover her reaction to Olivia. She remembered being nine years old, angry and half feral, when Olivia and her sister arrived at the group home. She remembered how Olivia had taken her under her wing, and for four years she'd almost felt like she had a family. But then Olivia went off to the Marines, and without her influence Rachel didn't have time for Emma anymore, and it was like being abandoned again.

But Olivia had sent her letters from boot camp, and it was Emma who broke off contact when she emancipated herself at sixteen. She'd wanted distance from all the disappointments of her past, not realizing at the time that she was cutting herself off from the one source of support who would never fail her.

It wasn't until years later that Emma reached out again, asking for a favor that Olivia granted without any recrimination after over half a decade of silence.

Peter cleared his throat of the cupcake crumbs. "Now I really do need that drink. Emma?"

"Please," she said, and Olivia waved her over to the couch as Peter walked over to the low cabinet just outside the kitchen.

While he poured he called back over his shoulder, "So what are you doing now?"

"I'm working as a bail bondsperson here in Boston. About that I, uh, wanted to ask a favor."

Olivia raised an unsurprised eyebrow. "Oh?"

Emma reached into her back pocket. "I've got this hard disk recovery program, but it's not as thorough as I'd like. I was hoping you had access to something better."

Peter came back with three glasses of amber liquid. "Here you go. Happy birthday, Olivia."

They clinked glasses and Emma sipped at her drink, relishing the burn of the alcohol. Olivia nodded absent thanks, clearly still thinking over Emma's request. "I suppose I could have our colleague Astrid take a look."

Peter leaned over and took the flash drive. "We don't have to bother her. I've got something here that'll do the trick. Talk among yourselves." He set down his glass and got up, vanishing into a back room with the drive.

Olivia tilted her head, a knowing smile on her lips. "You knew Peter was here. How long have you been watching?"

"Long enough to know it's serious, and that you work insane hours."

Olivia laughed. "Yes, and yes. We handle unique cases. But you could've come by at any time, Emma. You were always welcome."

Emma squirmed under Olivia's even gaze. "I know. I just...let myself get caught up in work, it's cleaner that way. Sometimes it's easier to be alone."

"I understand that," Olivia said quietly.

She did, that was the thing, probably like no one else. "Look, I know you saw me like another little sister—"

"I never did," Olivia said, shaking her head. "You were too independent for that, even at nine. And later, I wouldn't have dared presume the familiarity."

It could've been a reproach, but somehow wasn't. And if Olivia hadn't put her in the "family" category, that gave Emma the freedom to explore another possibility. "I thought about you a lot, but not like that, either. I...always admired you."

Olivia ducked her head and Emma seized the moment, leaning over and brushing her lips against Olivia's. "I've been wanting to do that for years." She started to pull back but Olivia's hand slipped around the back of her head, holding her in place, and Emma was entirely happy to settle in and give back as good as she got.

After a moment she became aware that Peter had come back into the room. Emma moved back slightly and he handed the drive over, casually, as if he hadn't walked in on his girlfriend and former protégé kissing on the couch. "Should be good to go. There are some nonstandard modifications on that, so don't let it out of your sight."

"I solemnly swear to use my powers only for good," Emma said, and realized Olivia and Peter were both stifling a laugh. "What?"

"Never mind." Peter arranged himself on Olivia's other side, his body language relaxed rather than possessive. "So you ended up in the bail business, huh. Wouldn't have guessed that, but it suits." 

Emma nodded, half-distracted, thinking about new possibilities. "Olivia helped me get my license. She wrote a recommendation letter for the agency."

"I hereby attest that I know Emma Swan to be an individual of honesty, truthfulness, fair dealing, and competency," Olivia recited, as if from memory. "I was pretty sure about at least three of those."

Emma wrinkled her nose. "Cute."

"I knew you wouldn't prove me wrong," Olivia said serenely. She leaned back into the couch, smiling. "So how close were you two, those rainy nights in Portland?"

Peter laughed, a free and easy sound. "What you're thinking would have been statutory. But I did teach her a few things."

That was probably why she'd bonded with Neal so fast—he'd reminded Emma, superficially, of Peter, with his scruff and easy charm. But Neal had never been half as smart. "I still have the lockpicks you gave me."

"You put them to good use, I hope."

"Occasionally," Emma said, "but only in pursuit of truth, justice, and scumbags. Like this one guy I've been skip tracing—"

She described her current mark, the jackass who'd embezzled from his employer and blew town on his wife after she'd put up bail. "—and on top of all that? I found him on an internet dating site. I'm meeting him for dinner night after next." She grinned and leaned forward, snagging the whiskey for a refill. "He's gonna have the date of his life."

Peter raised his glass in appreciation, but Olivia frowned. "On your birthday? Even a bail bondsperson gets days off sometimes."

Emma stared at her in disbelief. "Seriously?"

Peter was gaping too. "Who are you, and what have you done with—" he cut himself off, wincing. "I mean, since when do you care about days off?"

"I wasn't talking about me," Olivia protested, but she was smiling. "I'm just saying, this is the first birthday I've had off in years, since we're almost always on a case. I hate to think Emma's giving hers up on purpose."

Emma shrugged. "Gotta pay the bills."

"Well, since you're here...Olivia's birthday is today, yours is in two days. Maybe we should celebrate for the both of you." Peter sounded thoughtful, nonchalant, and not at all as if he was proposing a threesome...which Emma was fairly certain he was.

Olivia clearly thought so, too. She arched an eyebrow at him. "You have a suggestion?"

He grinned and stretched back, shrugging. "It's obvious you two have some unresolved tension to work out. I don't mind. I'd mind even less if you let me watch."

"How gracious of you." Olivia's voice was dryly amused, but the glance she threw Emma was laden with invitation.

Emma tossed back the rest of her drink and stood. She slid onto Peter's lap, straddling him, and raised a challenging eyebrow. "You think you can't handle both of us at once?"

He huffed a soft laugh. "I know I can't. But I'm willing to make the effort."

"Generous," Emma murmured. She leaned in to kiss Peter, feeling Olivia's hand stroke over her thigh. Best birthday in _years,_ she decided, and stopped thinking.

* * *

Two days later Emma ambushed her quarry, handed him off to the cops, and went home to her empty apartment to enjoy her solitary birthday cupcake. She'd called Olivia earlier, anticipating the end of the case and a cause for celebration, but gotten only voicemail. Olivia had mentioned that her hours tended to be irregular.

Emma stared at the cupcake—she'd gone for triple chocolate, vanilla cream cheese frosting—and then closed her eyes, wishing she didn't have to be alone as she blew out the candle.

The doorbell rang.

Emma ran to answer it eagerly, hoping Olivia had returned the birthday visit...and opened the door to see a young boy instead.

The rest, as they say, is another story.

**Author's Note:**

> The internal timelines of these shows match up beautifully. My research, let me show you it:
> 
>  
> 
> **Year (Emma's Age/Peter and Olivia's Age) -- Event**  
>  1983 (Born/5) -- Peter's birthday Sept. 18; Olivia turns 5 on Oct. 21st; Emma born October 23. Emma sent to Earth [Boston], adopted; Olivia causes first fire when Emma appears in world  
> 1985 (2/7) -- Blue!Peter dies, Walter kidnaps Red!Peter and breaks the universe  
> 1986 (3/8) -- Emma returned to foster care  
> 1987 (4/9) -- Olivia shoots stepfather late in year  
> 1992 (9/14) -- Olivia's mother dies, Olivia and Rachel (11) go into foster care; Emma and Olivia & Rachel in same group home for four years  
> 1994 (11/16) -- Peter drops out of high school  
> 1996 (13/18) -- Olivia enlists in the Marines  
> 1999 (16/21) -- Emma emancipated from foster care; Peter traveling; Emma meets Peter  
> 2000 (17/22) -- Emma a thief in Portland, stealing cars; meets Neal, caught with stolen merchandise, sent to prison in Phoenix (juvie offense); Peter goes to Europe; Olivia in college at NC  
> 2001 (18/23) -- Emma gives birth to Henry in jail on birthday  
> 2004 (21/26) -- Olivia joins FBI  
> 2006 (23/28) -- Olivia helps Emma get bail bonds license  
> 2011 (28/33) -- Fringe events: 10/7 "Alone in the World"; 10/14 "Subject 9"; [fic here, on 10/21, Olivia's birthday]; Emma catches Ryan on her birthday
> 
> Also, I figure Olivia would like these cupcakes:  
> http://blueberrykitchen.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/vanilla-spice-latte-cupcakes/


End file.
